The Medusa Chronicles

Publisher Description

Inspired by Sir Arthur C. Clarke's short story A Meeting with Medusa, this novel, with permission from the Clarke Estate, continues the story of Commander Howard Falcon over centuries of space-exploration, interaction with AI, first contact and beyond. All brought to life by two of our greatest SF authors, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds.

Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident . . . and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. Not as himself, but as an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable.

The Medusa Chroniclescharts his journey through time, the changing interaction between humanity and our universe, and combined moments of incredible action with unparalleled exploration of and expansion into space. A compelling read from the beginning, this is classic SF which has appeal for readers who like Gravity and The Martian.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY2 MAY 2016

Two of the most acclaimed contemporary hard SF writers successfully team up in this ambitious epic space opera, spanning almost 800 years, that expands the themes raised by Arthur C. Clarke's classic 1971 novella, A Meeting with Medusa. Clarke's hero, Howard Falcon, suffered horrific injuries in an accident in 2080, surviving only by cybernetic surgery; his new abilities led him to a successful search for extraterrestrial life and positioned him to be an "ambassador... between the creatures of carbon and the creatures of metal." That unsought status tests Falcon as, over the centuries, robots begin to become self-aware and seek autonomy. Humankind's expansion of its reach beyond Earth provides more opportunity for conflict, and the authors do a superior job of predicting plausible political developments. The novel's reach does come at the expense of some psychological depth, but fans of the authors' other work won't be disappointed.